18:00 – brief walking tour of the city

Evening: 18:00 - attend lecture at British Institute of Florence (optional)

Principal works: Michelangelo’s Bacchus, Donatello’s bronze and marble Davids and St. Michael, and the original competition panels submitted by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi for the “Doors of Paradise” of the Baptistery. It is here where prisoners sentenced to death would spend their last evenings meditating on frescoes depicting the gates of hell and allegories of sinners redeemed.

Afternoon: Santa Croce Church and Museum and Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel (featured in the movie, Hannibal).

Santa Croce is Florence’s mausoleum. Machiavelli, Rossini, Bruni, Michelangelo, Galileo, and over 250 other important Florentines are buried here. There are also monuments to Dante, Fermi, and Marconi. Here we will sing Gregorian Chant from the choir books in the Sacristy.  The Santa Croce Leather Works, where you can see leather workers creating purses, briefcases, coats, and other quality leather products, is located here.

Afternoon: 14:30 – History of Science Museum. As an added attraction, Dottore Capponi will meet with the students to discuss the role that Galileo played in the history of Florence and science.

Lunch: sandwiches at Gustapanino near Santo Spirito Square 

Afternoon: (13:30) - San Carmine and the Brancacci Chapel to study the seminal Masaccio and Masolino frescoes. 

then to Santo Spirito Church, to experience Brunelleschi’s use of perspective and view Michelangelo’s newly found Crucifixion; also a visit to the private Frescobaldi Gardens with its grotesque statue of Pan.

Note particularly the works of Giotto, Cimabue, Leonardo da Vinci, Uccello, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio. BRING YOUR HANDOUT. 15:00 - Hot chocolate break in the Uffizi 

In the Galleria next to the David are four of Michelangelo’s famous nonfinite, the Prisoners or Slaves, sculpted for Pope Julius II’s tomb and left in various stages of completion. The Gallery was founded by Grand Duke Pietro Leopold in 1784 to provide students with examples of art from every period. The big busy Mannerist paintings around the David are by Michelangelo’s contemporaries, among them Pontormo’s Venus and Cupid. Other rooms contain a good selection of quattrocento painting, including the Madonna del Mare by Botticelli, the Thebaid by a follower of Uccello, and Perugino’s Deposition. The painted frontal of the Adimari chest shows a delightful wedding scene of the 1450’s with the Baptistery in the background.

Evening: 18:00 – lecture at the British Institute (optional) 

19:30 – Group meal at Casalinga

In Fiesole we will study the Roman ruins and Etruscan wall and museum. Each will be given a story from Boccaccio’s Decameron to interpret.

Afternoon: 13:30 – Archeological Museum

Evening: 19:30 - “Buon Viaggio”: five course Renaissance Dinner at the elegant Palazzo Borghese, Via Ghibelline 110, complete with Renaissance dance, music and food.

Paolina Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister, once lived here. Randomly selected students will take part – in authentic dress - in the evening’s entertainment. Donald Francis, our host, will discuss the history of the palazzo and describe its ceiling art. This is a dress up affair.